[Michael B]

Carlton,

Perhaps it was serendipitous that I decided to read your post. Once I saw the name William Chalfant, I knew I had a photo of him in my archives. It may have also helped fill in a gap in Olympic history. During the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, which also included the events of the 1904 Olympics, the sport of roque was one of the events held. Roque is a variation of croquet in which the court is a hard smooth surface surrounded by a wall. During the 1904 LPE the event doubled as the U.S. National Championships and there were no foreign competitors. Due to these two limitations many Olympic scholars feel it should be excluded as an Olympic event. Nonetheless, the IOC still counts it.

There were only four competitors, making this the least competed sport in Olympic history. Charles Jacobus of Springfield, MA and the father of American Roque and author of Spalding’s guide on the sport won the gold. Smith Streeter, a farmer from Illinois won the silver and Charles Brown, a veterinarian from Illinois, won the bronze. The fourth place finisher was William Chalfant. Olympic historians have not been able to find any information on him as record keeping was not the greatest for those games. It is quite possible this is one and the same. His age would have been appropriate for the event as the other competitors were 64, 60 and 37 years of age.

Your person lived/worked in West Chester, PA. My mother-in-law lives in that town.

WILLIAM CHALFANT
Gender: Male
Country: United States
Sport: Roque
Results
Games Age City Sport Event NOC Rank Medal
1904 Summer St. Louis Roque Men's Singles USA 4

Yes, the cabinet photo is signed by him. Photographer - Pach.